Cancer Patient Regains Her Voice

Dr. Randal Paniello watches and listens to Amy Hancock try out her new voice.

(KWMU Staff photo)

By Hillary Wicai, KWMU

St. Louis, MO –

Amy Hancock's first words after surgery to restore her voice were "thank you." The 26-year-old Hancock had surgery last month at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where tissue was removed from her arm and fashioned into a talking tube. On Monday, Hancock spoke her first words using her new voice.

The surgery has been successfully performed in Germany, but Hancock's was the first operation of its kind ever performed in the United States. KWMU's Hillary Wicai reports.